Within the Storm
by Magick
Summary: There is peace to be found in the eye of the storm. Tia Dalma tries to come to terms with everything that has come to pass. And Davy Jones of course! Set sometime preDMC. Story is much better then the summary.


Disclaimer: Pirates of the Caribbean and all locations and characters belong to the wonderful Disney Company. I own nothing, and I am not doing this for any sort of profit.

Jukebox Plays- "Song to the Siren" by This Mortal Coil

Hey all! This is my first foray into the world of the Pirates of the Caribbean! It's Tia Dalma/Calypso centric, with mention of Davy Jones. I strongly suggest you take the Jukebox recommendation, it's a wonderful song, and inspired this fic. I would love some feedback, as I have never tried writing this character before. Thanks a lot!

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In the middle of the Pelagosa swamp there was a tiny, stilted house. Within these battered, leaning walls were two bedrooms, but only one woman lived here. The first was for the normal days, when the sun shone green through the canopy of leaves overhead. The days that sleep came easily, and dreams were held at bay by force of will or luck.

The second room was a guest room in theory, but nobody save for her ever slept there. The second room was for the nights that the dreams crept in through the chambers of her mind, leaving her gasping for air that never seemed to fill her lungs. When the walls of the first room closed in around her like an inescapable vice, suffocating the life out of her.

For the nights she dreamed of getting out, of running as far away from this little swamp as her feet would carry her. Throwing herself into the ocean and praying for sweet oblivion in its deepest depths. To the peaceful calms of Davy Jones Locker.

Tia Dalma choked back a bitter laugh at the thought, her fingers wrapping loosely around the heavy locket that hung around her neck like an anchor. How ironic that the thought of a drowning death could summon a pain a hundred thousand times more agonizing. Could nothing be simple anymore?

Outside the rattling window, the wind had picked up; thrashing the long palm fronds against the walls of her house. Lashing through the air with a sound like an expertly wielded whip, a swishing counterpoint to the staccato beating of the rain against the roof. A tormented storm that promised to get worse as the night progressed- in accord, if not because of, her mood.

The pulling at her heartstrings to go out, to stand in the wind until it carried her up beyond the forever- away from this place. To find the place above these empty nights and endless days of waiting. In the sky, where she could look down upon the world. Perhaps there, at least, she would find serenity.

Tia's bare feet slid across the floor as she made her way out of the deceptively strong little hut. The swamp grass slithered against her ankles, almost as though warning her away from this rash decision. But the freezing cold water was a balm, numbing her skin the way her eternity numbed her very soul. Silencing the voice that warned, beware this path, for it only summons hurts best left buried.

She knew every nook and cove of this island, and it was to one of these hidden places that she hurried. Exposed to the ravages of the surf, it was a narrow beach of bleached sand and jagged piles of ocean smoothed stones. Here where the wind was unchecked, and slashed across her skin like a lash.

Over and over, burning her skin with icy tongues of the wind. The elements breaking upon her as though they sought to bring her down, to reduce her to nothingness- to grains of bone and flesh to be carried away by the tide. In the center of the maelstrom, where the world screamed for her in a voice she had lost. With a sound that had been stolen from her.

Tiny, sharp rocks stabbed at her skin as she stepped amidst the white capped waves that crashed against the unforgiving shore. Silently begging it to sweep her away, out to where there was no more land. Nothing to anchor her to this accursed soil, or this chilling and desolate wind. To the heart of the world, where she might be healed.

Tia clawed at the waves, feeling the hot tears run down her cheeks as the water sluiced away from her desperate fingers. This solid form that could never merge with that she loved. With that she craved more then she wished for breath. Forgetting her vow to forget, and screaming into the moaning, wailing wind. Crying out against the helplessness and the frustration, willing the sound out as far as her mortal voice could carry it.

The empty knowledge that it would never reach him. That were she to be carried away, he would not be there to pull her to safety. The terrible loneliness that marked her waking hours. That haunted her sleeping dreams. The melody of the locket that soothed her, and destroyed her in the same moment.

The mad desire to break free, book passage upon the next ship to cross paths with the Dutchman and it's unearthly, damned crew. Death held no more fear for her; these lifetimes without him were a far more terrifying fate. To throw herself upon the mercies of the Fates, and be doomed with him- to beg his forgiveness, and tell him that she... That she...

That after all these years, he was the only one for which she longed. The only man to whom she had loved, and who had torn out that heart along with his own. And who had broken their bond with his own hands.

Tia pulled back from the surf, her body trembling with cold and emotion. The wind had begun to die down, settling the waves into calmer swells. But for the moment, her demons were quieted- exorcised. For a time they would be silent, letting her return to her life. Her mind was calm, pulling back it's veneer of numbness to cover the scars in her heart.

She had learned to live with the pain, and some day she would see him. The waiting would end. She had to believe.

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Dedicated to the wonderful players at "The Edge of the Map" PoTC RPG.


End file.
